Now that public education has been "reinvented" by the Hawaii State Legislature and the pared down, 30-minute multiple choice SAT scores are in, nothing appears to have improved. Average cumulative scores still fall below 1000, effectively barring most students’ access to the University of Hawaii and mainland universities.

While Hawaii students’ scores do not measure up to their mainland counterparts, the U.S. school system -- one of the best-funded school systems in the world -- does not measure up to international standards. 80 percent of college-bound students don’t know that India is the world’s most populous democracy; 65 percent don’t know what the Bill of Rights is about; 25 percent cannot name the ocean that separates the U.S. from Asia. Improving student performance in the U.S. no longer hinges on teaching literacy, numeracy, history and science; somehow, the focus is now on improving parental involvement, providing better nutrition, reducing poverty, increasing civic activities and so on. Placing the blame for poor student achievement on these external factors creates a smokescreen that lets bureaucrats and educators off the hook.

Frederick M. Hess, resident scholar and director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, describes some factors that create a "culture of incompetence" in education:

• Teachers are hired for life and advance based on seniority, not merit
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• Principals can’t be fired. If they fail, they receive perhaps $90 thousand per year to do safety training or something else for which they may have no skill.
  
  
• There are no rewards for excellence.
  
  
• Teacher’s unions and education schools restrict who can enter the workforce.
  
  
• Principals are isolated from the world of management. They cannot hire or fire teachers.
  
  
• Federal laws and court decisions have created paper-heavy bureaucracies.
  
  
• State regulations and collective bargaining agreements on teacher hiring, class sizes, administrative quality, school workday, funding, construction and textbooks restrict school leaders.
  
  
• Workers are products of the work culture they inhabit and don’t want change.Clear objectives are missing.
  
  
• Leadership is missing and the idea of "consensus" is romanticized.

Status Quo vs. Common Sense Reform

Reform that does not address factors that create a culture of incompetence simply retains the status quo. Status quo reformers scream for more money, more training, more community support, smaller schools, more textbooks and computers, higher teacher pay, but ignore changes that would jeopardize job security, allow flexibility or demand accountability.

To create a culture of competence, imagine if public schools systems advertised for teachers with this slogan: "We recognize and reward pride, passion and purpose." Status quo education systems might announce, "Employees who do what they are told and don’t make waves will make it to the top in 20 years."

"Great schools, like any great enterprise, are the product of genius, hard work, commitment and skill. They require nuanced leadership that forges a sense of shared purpose, rewards creative thinking, and inspires excellence. Public policy cannot mandate great schools any more than it can mandate great leadership or great teaching; it can only make it easier or harder for great schools to exist," writes Hess.

Hawaii’s newest reform effort does not make it easier for great schools to exist; rather, it maintains all existing barriers to competence and quality. It gives status quo players a new round of something to do while avoiding painful, but necessary changes that will result in progress towards excellence.

Originally published on HawaiiReporter.com on 9/02/04.